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Webb: GAO investigating Navy’s shipyards

Virginia Sen. Jim Webb has enlisted the investigative arm of Congress to look into the state of the Navy’s four shipyards, his office announced Friday.

The Government Accountability Office has agreed to investigate the shipyards, operated by Naval Sea Systems Command, after a July 13 request by Webb and seven other senators. The Navy confirmed in May that it had a $1.3 billion backlog in work and upgrades for its shipyards, part of broad funding problems earlier this year.

Webb and other Virginia lawmakers were concerned that if the flow of money dried up to Hampton Roads-area shipyards, the business would have to lay off their skilled employees for lack of work. After a visit Friday to Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Webb said he also was worried about what he called “the yard’s aging facilities and its worn-out infrastructure.”

“The GAO’s commitment to investigate the material condition of our nation’s four naval shipyards is a necessary first step to ensure that we are allocating resources adequately and responsibly,” Webb said in an announcement. “The Navy’s four public shipyards play an essential role in enabling the fleet’s operational availability and mission success.”

The Navy acknowledged this spring it was scaling back underway time and flight operations for non-deployed ships and squadrons; officials hoped to use the savings from that to continue to fund depot-level maintenance for the fleet.

Navy officials’ unwillingness to discuss the cause and consequences of their budget situation this summer make it difficult to get a clear picture about whether the funding woes endure.

Webb’s announcement included statistics from the Navy about the funding shortfall at the fleet’s four shipyards:

• Norfolk Naval Shipyard: $450.6 million.

• Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Wash.: $327.2 million.

• Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Hawaii: $312.6 million.

• Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, N.H.: $206.4 million.